Hoeppner takes high road

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

February 11, 2007|DOUG WILSON Bloomington Herald-Times

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- After national champ Florida snatched away the biggest prize in Indiana's football recruiting class Wednesday, Hoosier coach Terry Hoeppner didn't have much to say about losing Warren Central High's Jerimy Finch. "To talk about the ones who got away at this point is a waste of words," Hoeppner said during a press conference to announce Indiana's 19 new signees. Finch, the top-rated senior safety in the country, signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida. He had given Indiana a verbal commitment last month. Evansville Central tight end Max Dedmond was the first player to have his letter of intent roll off the fax machine in Indiana's football offices. He had been the first player in this class to give the Hoosiers a verbal commitment last summer. The faxes kept coming in all morning on national signing day, with only a couple of surprises along the way. The first of those was that Indiana signed one player who had not previously given the Hoosiers a verbal commitment. That was linebacker Ian Reeves, a first-team Class A all-state pick from Ferndale, Mich. One disappointment for the Hoosiers was that Jacksonville, Fla., wide receiver Tray Herndon, who recently gave Indiana a verbal commitment, signed with Minnesota instead. Hoeppner said he wouldn't change anything about how his staff recruited the couple of players who committed and later changed their minds. He said his coaches took the high road and that's road they'll continue to take. But he also said he's hoping the American College Football Coaches Association will consider a proposal he's made to add an early signing date in December, so players wouldn't wait so long to make their verbal commitments official. "It would definitely clean up football recruiting and we'd not have all this 'to-ing' and 'fro-ing,' " Hoeppner said. "It would put some teeth into commitment." Hoeppner said the class IU signed Wednesday meets the needs of his football team well. He highlighted the defensive linemen in the recruiting class as one of its strengths. Junior college transfer Kevin Burrus and freshmen Jeff Boyd, Fred Jones and Eric Thomas are among the players in the class who have the physical maturity to have a chance to contribute next season. "If the D-line guys walked here right now, you would say, 'Oh wow,' " Hoeppner said. "They definitely pass the look test." Comments and notes from Indiana coachesChris Adkins, DB, 6-1, 176, Warren Central: Moved from RB to CB as a senior. Considered to have a high ceiling. Jeff Boyd, DT, 6-2, 275, Warren Central: Could play end or tackle. Explosive off the ball. Kevin Burrus, DT, 6-2, 295, Coffeyville, Kan.: Twin brother of IU defensive end Keith Burrus. Will play nose tackle. Dane Conwell, LB, 6-0, 220, Upper St. Clair, Pa.: Stock rose during a 16-0 senior season after he'd committed early to IU. Zach Davis-Walker, RB, 5-8, 176, Plantation, Fla.: His dad, Steve, made a recruiting visit to IU, but played at Ole Miss. Max Dedmond, TE, 6-5, 242, Evansville Central: Runs well for his size and should create mismatches in passing game. Jarrell Drane, S, 6-2, 178, Plantation, Fla.: His father, Dwight, was a starting safety Buffalo Bills teams of late 80s. Matt Ernest, WR, 6-2, 175, Crown Point: Injury his junior year helped keep him off the national radar as a senior. Mitchell Evans, QB/S, 6-3, 190, West Milton, Ohio: Very fast player from a small school. Could play quarterback or safety. Josh Hager, OL, 6-7, 260, St. Louis: Looks thin at 260. Has frame to gain a lot of weight over next few years. Chris Hagerup, P, 6-5, 205, Whitefish Bay, Wis.: Top candidate for punter's job vacated by Tyson Beattie. Darius Johnson, RB, 6-0, 220, Highland Park, Mich.: Versatile player who was named first-team all-Detroit metro area. Fred Jones, DE, 6-4, 253, Tyrone, Ga.: Impressive athlete who has gained 30 pounds in past year. Andrew McDonald, OL, 6-5, 281, Warren Central: High potential player who played just one year of varsity football. Ian Reeves, LB, 6-0, 220, Ferndale, Mich.: The hardest-hitting linebacker Indiana recruited. Tyler Replogle, LB, 6-2, 230, Centerville, Ohio: Same high school as former Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk. Teddy Schell, QB, 6-5, 210, Barrington, Ill.: Lefty rated as the No. 1 QB prospect out of Illinois. Eric Thomas, DE, 6-4, 250, Cleveland: From Glenville High powerhouse that's produced numerous collegians. Dennis Zeigler, OL, 6-7, 315, Pike: Huge player with high potential. Has played just two years of football.